


A Lesson in Self-Care

by Hibibun



Category: The Magnus Archives (Podcast)
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Pre-Season 1, description of mild injuries
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-11
Updated: 2020-07-11
Packaged: 2021-03-05 04:41:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 859
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25208659
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hibibun/pseuds/Hibibun
Summary: Jon doesn't get any better at taking care of himself, but at least an attempt was made.
Relationships: Jonathan "Jon" Sims | The Archivist & Tim Stoker, Jonathan "Jon" Sims | The Archivist/Tim Stoker
Comments: 2
Kudos: 67





	A Lesson in Self-Care

**Author's Note:**

> this happened by accident as a general writing warm up because i kept thinking about nikola telling jon he hasn't been taking care of his skin and it's on brand that he would not remember/think to do so during the winter. 
> 
> also yes, tim is definitely that coworker who always has nice hand lotion and is offering to share mints or gum.

“Tim, do you have the transcript for the Sullivan case’s interview? Something isn’t adding up.”

For a moment, Tim wanted to argue they should be packing things up to head home, but at the same time, they also had been working on this case for what felt like five days now. Many of the details and testimonies overlapped and contradicted each other to the point where someone definitely was lying, but as for who, determining that was becoming a chore Tim was getting sick of.

At the end of the day, the case itself held hardly any chance of being true for what the Institute was supposed to be looking into, and deeper than that, it had nothing to do with what Tim was there to find either. It was becoming obvious a number of the people who came in didn’t actually have any genuine supernatural experiences, and after five months, Tim was starting to simply prefer the company of his coworkers compared to actually finding hints about what took his brother. Still, as irritating as it was, his current partner on it while annoyed for similar reasons had a thoroughness to his work that Tim could appreciate. Though, sometimes he did take it too obsessively.

Even with all that work put in knowing nothing would show for it, there was nothing quite like Jon’s hilarious rants as he tore down statements with brutal facts that gave Tim stitches in his side from laughing. So it was both eagerness to have this case filed away and hear what beautiful summary Jon would come up with that had Tim sticking around when normally he’d had already left.

He was about to make a joke explaining that much, until a more pressing matter distracted him.  
  
“Oh, uh, you’re kinda’ bleeding there.” Tim stared at Jon’s knuckles waiting to take the document from his hand, before dropping it back in the stack and swiveled across the long table to get some tissues. There’s an actual first aid kit in the storage cabinet in the corner of the room, but it seemed like the smarter option before Jon can manage to bleed on anything.

Once he was set up with that, then Tim deemed it safe to grab the kit and dug for the alcohol wipes, ripping the little packet open. Jon muttered a quiet thanks, balled up the tissues and began dabbing at the unpleasant cuts. They didn’t look particularly serious, but from the slight twitch with each wipe he gave, it definitely wasn’t pleasant.

At first, Tim assumed he must have nicked his fingers on stray papers again, but upon closer inspection the skin along Jon’s knuckles were cracked, bits of scabbing peeled away revealing the cause for his bleeding.

“So how’d you manage that?”

“Forgot my gloves this morning and the cold must’ve gotten to them, but it’s not a big deal. This happens often around this time of year. Apologies for nearly bleeding on you.” Jon answered with a casualness that baffled Tim. Instead, he only laughed at the typical brand of politeness his coworker responded with in regards to bleeding, which had just enough dryness to come off potentially sarcastic.

“You’ve really got to learn to take better care of yourself. Not begrudging you forgetting your gloves, but when the weather’s like this you have remember to exfoliate and moisturize.”

“Ex…foliate? Tim it’s just dry weather. And our line of work means using your hands a lot—”

“All the more reason to take better care of them! Look, here, you can take this.” He broke from the conversation for a moment to dig a small bottle of mango scented lotion from his bag, holding it out for Jon to take. “Use it after those have closed back up though. An ex left a bottle at my flat and I’ve stuck with it since, it’s a nice brand.”

Hesitantly, Jon accepted the bottle, tossing it in his own bag before standing to clean up his mess of tissues and wipes.

“Oh, and here. I don’t live too far from here, but just so you have some protection until you get in. I don’t think they’ll be too big on you, but better than nothing, right? We’ll be back here tomorrow anyway, so just don’t forget them.” Tim added, digging out his own gloves and offered them across the table when Jon sat back down.

Wearily, Jon hesitated even longer before taking them as the longer Tim kept his hand held out, it was obvious he wasn’t taking no for an answer.

“This is really unnecessary, but thank you. I’ll be sure to bring them with me tomorrow.”

When Jon came in the following morning, Tim was glad not only that he’d kept his word, but even attempted to show his appreciation in the form of a coffee he hadn’t been expecting. Getting Jon to take better care of himself was a process, but it certainly was going better than a couple months ago—and for that Tim hoped he’d get better at reading intentions to be sincere instead of an insult. He’d give it another month or two.

**Author's Note:**

> my alternate title to this was 'teaching your future boss how to exfoliate'
> 
> also, i think i got all of it in round up editing, but apologies if there was any tense confusion. as of late, i typically write in present tense, but started and decided to stick in past tense for this one.


End file.
